- DATE : 27/08/2015
- TIME : 15:00–17:00
- VENUE : Project Room 1.06, 50 George Square
Ang Li 李昂 (Writer)
Ang Li is the most controversial woman writer in Taiwan. In this lecture, she examines the intertwining of gender, food and politics, which continues to break new ground of literary reflection, creating a new space of questions involving female sexuality and Asian women’s literature in the international literary scene.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
“Literature’s final purpose is to depict human nature, and human nature has been restricted by society, so I am willing to explore and provoke the influences of humanity’s problems from society’s restrictions.” — Ang Li
Ang Li (real name Shih Shu-tuan 施叔端) was born on April 7, 1952, in the town of Lukang 鹿港, Changhua 彰化 County, Taiwan. A graduate of the philosophy department from the Chinese Culture University, she received a master’s degree in drama at University of Oregon. Under the influence of her older sisters Shih Shu 施叔 and Shi Shu-ching 施叔青 who are also authors, Ang Li picked up an interest in writing. By the age of sixteen, she published her first short story “Flower Season,” which quickly increased her stature in Taiwan’s literary circles. Most of her novels revolve around the themes of modern man’s issues of love and sexual relations, while describing society’s transforming view of gender psychology and ethics with young people. Li came to the United States to pursue her advanced studies and then returned to Taiwan to teach at the Chinese Culture University. The Butcher’s Wife, a novella published in 1983, caused controversy within Taiwan’s literary circles and established Li’s status and position. The novella also gained the attention of various international scholars, including Fujii Shozo, a professor at Tokyo University, and Kenzaburo Oe, recipient of the Nobel Literary prize. Fujii Shozo greatly admired Ang Li since the beginning of the 1990s. Thus, he has consistently translated a great deal of her works into Japanese and published them in Japan. The Butcher’s Wife has been translated into more than 10 different languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, Korea.
Among Taiwan’s third-generation writers, Ang Li is the most controversial woman writer. She experienced a great deal of attention and dispute regarding the causes and origins of the chosen subject matter in her novels. Since the The Secular World novel series was published, Li’s novels have focused on the bald descriptions of sexuality; the themes of sexuality and relevance of ethics questions have a strong presence in her early writing. Recently Ang Li has begun to examine the intertwining of gender and politics in her writing, and it has opened up new dimensions of gender writing in literature. This approach has caused even more controversy in literary circles. In one interview, Ang Li explained her view on literature: “Literature’s final purpose is to depict human nature, and human nature has been restricted by society, so I am willing to explore and provoke the influences of humanity’s problems from society’s restrictions.” In 2004, Li received “The Chevalier de L’ordre des Arts des Lettres,” awarded to commend her literary accomplishments from France’s Minister of Culture and Communication. Li continues to break new ground of literary reflection, creating a new space of questions involving female sexuality. She not only contributed greatly to the development of Taiwan’s literature, but also promoted the image of Asian women’s literature in the international literary scene.
李昂，1952年四月七日，本名施叔端，臺灣省彰化縣鹿港鎮人。中國文化學院哲學系畢業、奧勒岡大學戲劇碩士。
在其作家姐姐施淑、施叔青的薰陶下，喜愛寫作。高一即以處女作〈花季〉發表報刊而登上文壇。小說主題大多環繞著現代人的情愛和性愛問題上，對於青年男女在社會轉型期所碰到的性心理問題和道德問題多所著墨。筆名「李昂」便是借用母親的姓氏「李」，「昂」則是希望可以昂首挺胸的意思。李昂14歲初二的時候，即開始創作第一篇小說。16歲開始寫〈花季〉，次年發表於《中國時報》副刊，並入選爾雅年度小說選《五十七年短篇小說選──十一個短篇》。此後以才女之姿進入文壇。文化大學哲學系畢業後，赴美奧勒岡大學（University of Oregon）攻讀戲劇碩士。
戰後台灣文壇第三代的作家中，李昂是相當受矚目及爭議的一位女作家。她的備受矚目及爭議原因在於其小說所選擇的題材。自「人間世」系列小說發表後一直延續至今，李昂的小說中對性描寫、性主題及與之相關的道德問題都有露骨的描述，近期則更進一步連結至政治國族的面向，而引起文學界及讀者兼兩極的評價。
李昂受訪問時曾就自己的文學觀作出以下的辯解：「文學的最終目的是寫人性，而人性是被社會所制約的，所以我很願意去探討社會制約所影響的人性問題。」
李昂小說裡經常觸及的「性」題材，其實是界此來反映社會現狀，洪珊慧認為︰「李昂覺得『性』這件事，絕對不是架空起來，單獨的來寫它，否則極可能變成黃色小說，就算寫得精彩，也只是空無一物。她重視的是『性』在社會意義對人造成的影響，尤其在急遽轉變中的台灣社會，『性』問題由八○年代之前的閉塞保守，到八○年代之後的莫衷一是。如今未婚生子非但不是新聞，國中生、高中生懷孕生子事件層出不窮。可見『性』問題分明就充斥在生活四周，我們還能繼續視而不見嗎？」
在台灣女性書寫中，邱貴芬指出﹕「李昂和其他同世代女作家如蔣曉雲、蕭麗紅、朱天心、袁瓊瓊、蘇偉貞等有很大的不同，當其他女作家一開始以『閨閣派』文風見長，李昂卻是出手不凡，不留情面地撕破傳統女性書寫裡的浪漫愛情紗幕，李昂不但直闖『性』的禁忌國度，處理情愛與性的問題。」施淑亦表示李昂早期著重於處理「個人存在、現實和歷史的非理性、荒謬一類的現代主義信念」，隨著台灣社會結構和價值系統的驟變而在創作格局與議題上有進一步的發展，「後來作品中，林林總總的都會男女，燈紅酒綠，我們看到了台灣現代化過程中，精神與物質發展的一些方面，一些屬於小知識層和新興的資產者、投機者的生活畫卷」。九○年代以後，李昂除了對在散文上開拓了飲食文學一領域外，對於邊緣化的女性的陰暗歷史的反思，則成為她近年來寫作，藉著「鬼」非人的身分來對男權社會作一犀利的抨擊。而這樣的書寫意識，無疑仍承續著她一直以來獨有的女性意識。
Publication 著作
Novels
- 1977 《人間世》The Secular World (Taipei: Dahan Publisher)
- 1982 《愛情試驗》Test of Love (Taipei: Hongfan Bookstore)
- 1983 《殺夫：鹿城故事》The Butcher’s Wife (Taipei: Linking Books)
- 1984 《她們的眼淚》Their Tears (Taipei: Hongfan Bookstore)
- 1985 《花季》Flower Season (Taipei: Hongfan Bookstore)
- 1985 《暗夜》Dark Night (Taipei: China Times Publisher)
- 1986 《一封未寄的情書》A Love Letter Never Sent (Taipei: Hongfan Bookstore)
- 1988 《年華》The Best Years (Taipei: Hongfan Bookstore)
- 1991 《迷園》Mysterious Garden (Taipei: Maotun famai Co.)
- 1991 《甜美生活》Sweet Life (Taipei: Hongfan Bookstore)
- 1992 《李昂集》Selected Works by Li Ang (Taipei: Avanguard)
- 1997 《北港香爐人人插：戴貞操帶的魔鬼系列》Beigang Incense Burner of Lust: The Devil with a Chastity Belt Series (Taipei: Rye Field Publishing Co)
- 1999 《禁色的暗夜：李昂情色小說集》The Dark Night of Forbidden Desire (Taipei: Crown Publisher)
- 2000 《自傳の小說》Autobiography: A Novel (Taipei: Crown Publisher)
- 2004 《看得見的鬼》Visible Ghosts (Taipei: Unitas Publisher)
- 2005 《花間迷情》Bewitching Love (Taipei: Locus Publishing)
- 2007 《鴛鴦春膳》An Erotic Feast for Lovebirds (Taipei: Unitas Publisher)
- 2009 《七世姻緣之台灣／中國情人》Marriage in Seven Lives: Entangled Love Affairs of Taiwanese Mainlander (Taiepei: Linking Books)
- 2011 《附身》Possession (Taipei: Chiuko)
- 2014 《路邊甘蔗眾人啃》Everyone Takes a Bite out of Roadside Sugarcanes (Taipei: Chiuko)
Prose
- 1987 《貓咪與情人》A Stray Cat and a Lover (Taipei: China Times Publisher)
- 2000 《漂流之旅》Drifting Voyageur (Taipei: Crown Publisher)
- 2002 《愛吃鬼》Gourmand (Taipei: Yifan)
- 2009 《愛吃鬼的華麗冒險》The Splendid Adventure of a Gourmand (Taipei: Route Culture Co.)
- 2013 《愛吃鬼的祕徑：李昂帶路的美食奇妙之旅》A Gourmand’s Secret Footpath (Taipei: Route Culture Co.)
- 2014 《李昂的獨嘉美食》Li Ang’s Exclusive Chiayi Cuisines (Chiayi: Cultural Bureau of Chiayi City)
Other Works
- 1976 《群像─中國當代藝術家訪問》Group of Characters (Taipei: Dahan Publisher)(interview collection)
- 1984 《女性的意見》Women’s Opinions (Taipei: China Times Publisher)(newspaper column collection)
- 1985 《外遇》Extra-Marital Affairs (Taipei: China Times Publisher)(Fieldwork report)
- 1986 《走出暗夜》Walking Out of the Dark Night (Taipei: Avanguard)(newspaper column collection)
- 1989 《水鬼城煌》City God: The Water Spirit (Taipei: Yuan-liu Publishing Co)(children’s literature)
- 1993 《懶人變猴子：賽夏族的故事》Lazy People Turn into Monkeys: Saisiat Folklore (Taipei: Yuan-liu Publishing Co.)(children’s literature)
- 1993 《施明德前傳》An Early Chapter of Shi Mingde’s Life (Taipei: Avanguard)(biography)
- 1994 《李昂說情》Li Ang Talks about Love (Taipei: Maotun famai Co.)(newspaper column collection)
English Translation of Li Ang’s Works
- LI, Ang (1986). The Butcher’s Wife. Howard Goldblatt and Ellen Yeung. San Francisco: North Point Press.
- LI, Ang (1989). The Butcher’s Wife. Howard Goldblatt and Ellen Yeung. London: Peter Owen Books.
- LI, Ang (1990). “Flower Season,” Bamboo Shoots after the Rain. Ann C, Carver and S. Y. Chang.
- LI, Ang (1990). The Butcher’s Wife Howard Goldblatt and Ellen Yeung. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co.
- LI, Ang (1991). “A Love Letter Never Sent” Worlds of Modern Chinese Fiction. Howard Goldblatt. Armok: N. Y. Sharpe.
- LI, Ang (1991). The Butcher’s Wife Howard Goldblatt and Ellen Yeung. New York: Penguin.
- LI, Ang (1995). The Butcher’s Wife and Other Stories Howard Goldblatt. Boston: Cheng and Tsui Company.
- LI, Ang (2002). The Butcher’s Wife Howard Goldblatt and Ellen Yeung. London: Peter Owen Books.
Other Languages
Czech Novels
— Řeznīkova žena [Sha fu]. Translated by Petr Šimon & Jana Benešová Prague: IFP Publishing, 2013.
— Čarovná zahrada [Mi Yuan]. Translated by Petr Šimon & Jana Benešová Prague: IFP Publishing, 2013.
Dutch Novels
—De vrouw van de slachter [Sha fu]. Translated by C. M. L. Kisling. Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 1995.
French Novels
—La Femme du boucher [Sha fu]. Edited and translated by Alain Peyraube and Hua-Fang Vizcarra. Paris: Flammarion, 1992.
—La Femme du boucher [Sha fu]. Translated by Alain Peyraube and Hua-Fang Vizcarra. Paris: Seuil, 1994.
—Tuer son mari [Sha fu]. Translated by Alain Peyraube and Hua-Fang Vizcarra. Paris: Denoël, 2004.
—Le jardin des egarements [Mi yuan]. Translated by André Lévy. Paris: Editions Philippe Picquier, 2003.
—-Nuit obscure [An ye]. Translated by Marie Laureillard. Paris: ACTES SUD, 2004.
German Novels
—Gattenmord [Sha fu]. Translated by Udo Hoffmann and Chang Hsien-chen. Köln: Eugen Diederichs Verlag, 1987.
—Gattenmord [Sha fu]. Translated by Udo Hoffmann and Chang Hsien-chen. Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1990.
—Sichtbare Geister [Kan de jian de gui]. Edited and translated by Martina Hasse. Berlin: Horlemann Verlag, 2007.
Italian Novel
—La Moglie del macellaio [Sha fu]. Translated by Anna Maria Paoluzzi. Corsico: Editrice Pisani, 2007.
Korean Novels
—눈에 보이는 귀신 [Kan de jian de gui]. Translated by Kim Tae Seong. Paju: 문학동네, 2011.
Japanese Novels
—《夫殺し》 [Sha fu]. Translated by Fujii Shozo. Tokyo: 寶島社, 1993.
—《迷いの園》 [Mi Yuan]. Translated by Fujii Shozo and Sakuraba Yumiko. Tokyo: 国書刊行会, 1999.
—《自伝の小説》 [Zizhuan de Xiaoshuo]. Translated by Fujii Shozo. Tokyo: 国書刊行会, 2004.
Spanish Novels
—Matar al Marido [Sha fu]. Translated by Bernardo Moreno Carrillo. Barcelona: Plataforma Editorial, 2012.
Swedish Novels
—Slaktarens Hustru [Sha fu]. Translated by Lennart Lundberg. Stockholm: Bokförlaget Tranan, 1992.
Website dedicated to the writer: http://web.mit.edu/ccw/li-ang/